Shoulder the Skye, page 9
Bronwyn was older now, and those emotions were carefully hidden, but not so well that he didn’t recognize them. Everyone had abandoned her. He wouldn’t do that.
The knock turned into banging.
“You might want to get that,” he told her. “I’ll grab my shoes.”
Elias’s strides ate up the distance to the fireplace. He shoved his feet into the boots and was already on his way back to the front when he heard the door open.
“I’m looking for our friend. Elias?” he heard Sabryn ask.
He exited the parlor and stepped into the wide hallway. “I’m here,” he called as he walked into the foyer.
Bronwyn didn’t open the door any wider. In fact, she had hardly opened it at all. She looked back at him as he grabbed his coat.
“I’ll be around,” he told her.
She lowered her gaze, her fingers gripping the door handle so tightly her knuckles turned white. “It’s better if you forget all about me.”
Elias didn’t say that was an impossible feat. He shifted so he could see out the small crack to his friends. Sabryn’s deep blue eyes met his. She was tall for a woman, but Finn was even taller. Instead of a smiling face, he saw the worry reflected in his friend’s dark eyes.
“You’ll want to rethink leaving, mate,” Carlyle said from behind Sabryn.
“We’d like to talk for a moment.” Sabryn eyed the door. “May we come inside, please?”
Bronwyn shook her head when Elias looked her way. He slid his gaze back to his friends. “I’m afraid no’.”
“It’s important,” Sabryn insisted.
Bronwyn opened the door all the way, allowing him to see his friends clearly.
“I take that to mean we’re not invited,” Finn stated.
Elias wrinkled his nose. “Things are…complicated.”
“Why haven’t you answered our calls and texts?” Sabryn demanded.
The irritation and fear mixed in her voice put Elias on alert. “What is it? What’s going on? Is it my family? Are they safe?”
“Your family is fine,” Carlyle replied.
Elias frowned and focused on Sabryn. When she quirked a brow, he sighed. They weren’t going to tell him anything until he answered their question. “Remember the bastard from the other day?”
“The one who confronted her?” Sabryn asked, nodding in Bronwyn’s direction.
“Aye. He came last night with some friends. They attacked her.”
Finn leaned to the side to better look at Bronwyn. “That’s why she’s so pale then?”
Elias ignored him. “There were five of them. I knocked each of them out before getting Bronwyn into the house.”
“Why didn’t you leave? You could’ve come to us,” Carlyle interjected.
Elias glanced at Bronwyn to see her watching him. She feared what he would tell his friends. “That wasna an option. Bronwyn has protected the house.”
“I’m aware,” Sabryn said tightly. “I’ve already tried to shove my way inside. Did you leave last night?”
Elias shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “She was banged up pretty badly. I barely got her inside before she fell unconscious. It was then that I went to call you, but my mobile must have slipped out of my pocket during the fight.”
Finn held up Elias’s phone, waving it. “We found it.”
“So?” Elias asked Sabryn. “What’s the problem?”
“Are you sure you didn’t leave?”
Elias’s frown deepened. “Aye, I’m sure. I was concerned about Bronwyn, and I wasna sure how long the assailants would be out. I decided to stay until she woke, and I knew she didna need a hospital.”
“And you’re positive all five were alive?”
A pit opened in Elias’s stomach. “As you can see, none of them are here. They woke and left.”
“They might have left, mate, but not all of them are alive,” Carlyle said.
Elias tried to swallow as he digested the news. “What?”
“One of them was found dead this morning,” Sabryn replied.
“If one of them died, it was by accident,” he told them. “Maybe they dumped the body when they realized that.”
His friends’ silence made it difficult for Elias to breathe.
“They found the body at your place,” Sabryn told him.
The blood rushed in Elias’s ears, drowning out everyone’s words. He saw their mouths moving, but he heard nothing. He took a step back, trying to find something to grab and stay upright. This couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t killed anyone, and he certainly hadn’t left to dump a body at his place.
The world pitched around him, and it felt as though something were sucking at his feet, pulling him down. He blindly reached out for something, anything, when soft fingers met his. He clutched at them, grateful for the anchor. The room began to slow its wild spinning.
He searched his mind, going back over each encounter he’d had with the five individuals the night before. He was ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain they had been alive.
“It wasna me,” he said, unsure if he said it to the others or himself. “I wouldna. No’ when I’ve already been blamed.”
The fingers in his tightened, drawing his gaze. He turned his head and found himself looking into hazel eyes. The green was darker now, making the copper stand out even more. He saw sorrow and understanding in her beautiful depths. That helped calm him, easing more of his panic.
He took a deep breath and looked at the Knights. “It wasna me.”
“We know,” Finn stated.
Carlyle nodded.
“You’ve been set up,” Sabryn said. “It’s why I don’t think you should leave here. Not just yet.”
Elias shook his head. “I gave Bronwyn my word. There are places I can go.”
“Not like here,” Finn said and looked up, taking in the size of the manor.
Sabryn’s gaze turned to Bronwyn. “Elias is a good man who is being framed. We need to find out who is responsible and why they’re focusing on him. We’ll pay.”
“Nay,” he said.
But Bronwyn asked, “How much?”
Sabryn grinned. “A businesswoman. I like you already. How does a hundred pounds a day sound?”
“Deal,” Bronwyn said. Then she looked at him. “They’re right. No one will look for you here. Even if they do, they can’t force their way in.”
“Does that mean we can come in?” Sabryn inquired.
Bronwyn stared at her for a long moment before saying, “You three are welcome in my home.”
Elias then watched as Sabryn, Carlyle, and Finn walked inside.
“Bloody hell, it’s cold,” Finn said and rubbed his hands together.
Carlyle shot him a peeved look. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to heat a home this size? The repairs alone cost a bloody fortune. Don’t get me started on the heating.”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me in great detail,” Finn said with a roll of his eyes.
Sabryn looked Elias over. “You’re injured.”
“Busted rib or two. I’ve had worse.” He cleared his throat and turned to Bronwyn. “Let me introduce my friends. This is Sabryn. She’s American. The dark-haired Irishman to the left is Finn O’Connor. The cultured Brit is Carlyle Oliver. Guys, this is Bronwyn Stewart.”
Carlyle bowed his head to her and smiled. “It’s a pleasure. My grandfather used to speak of Carwood Manor and its beauty. I’ve longed to see it.”
“It’s nothing like it used to be,” Bronwyn said.
Carlyle looked around him. “Nothing can diminish the great bones of such a residence.”
Finn rubbed his hands together. “Right. Let’s get down to business, shall we? Who has it out for our lad?”
Chapter Thirteen
Kerry stood before the mirror in her room and turned her head from side to side as she studied her hair. After years of having dull, lifeless locks, she had changed it with her magic. And she couldn’t get enough of looking at it.
She had left the gray strands that mixed with her brown, though. After all, she had earned every year she had been alive. She wore the lighter streaks like a badge of honor. She also hadn’t changed the length. She had gotten used to having it above her shoulders. However, instead of limp strands, she now had full hair that always did exactly what she wanted.
Kerry gently touched the bottom of her hair and smiled at her reflection before turning away. So much had changed about her life in such a short period. For once, she could honestly say she was happy. It was hard not to be when the Ancients had chosen her. Just thinking about the spirits of all the Druids who had come before made her smile. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone that the Ancients had singled her out. That they now spoke only to her—in one voice.
And that they had granted her extra power.
They had a plan to right everything that had gone wrong with the Druids, and she would be the one to lead all Druids—even those on Skye—into a new day. She didn’t know when that day would come, but she hoped it was soon.
Rhona and that filthy Reaper, Balladyn, had put her in the Druid prison deep within the Red Cuillins, thus taking her magic while she was locked within. But it had been Rhona who’d removed her as a deputy. That slight would be repaid tenfold.
Kerry grabbed a scone from a tin and stood at the kitchen window overlooking the land and people she had given her entire life to. The Druids in her quadrant of Skye were her family since she had no children, but the way they had treated her since she’d returned from the Red Hills was like having her heart cut out with a spoon. The pain was excruciating, agonizing. It wouldn’t be too much longer before they came to her door once more for advice and direction.
She stuffed the last bite of scone into her mouth and wiped the crumbs from her lips. The Ancients had given her the mist to command. She knew the Druids they wanted removed, and she had quickly set out to do just that. Unfortunately, the Ancients had ordered her to hold off on using the mist for a short time. They wanted to lull the Druids on Skye into thinking things were back to normal, but Kerry hadn’t been able to help herself the other night. She had bade the mist to come to her, and it had answered like a faithful companion.
It galled her that she hadn’t been able to remove the one person the Ancients wanted gone. Elias MacLean might have gotten away once, but he wouldn’t the next time she turned her attention to him.
But that wasn’t who’d had her attention the other night. One on Skye had been shunned by everyone and decided to walk her own path: Bronwyn Stewart. She wasn’t on the Ancients’ list, and that was good. Kerry had simply wanted to see how Bronwyn reacted to the mist. And just as she had expected, the drough had accepted it.
There were others on Skye Kerry couldn’t wait to bring into the fold. She had been concentrating on them, but every once in a while, she thought about the names on the list—ones that would be marked off one by one. Among those was none other than Elodie MacLean and her lover, Scott Ryan. Kerry wouldn’t have put Elodie and Elias on the top of that list, but the Ancients obviously knew something she didn’t.
Curiously, Edie wasn’t listed. Neither were Edie’s children. All the offspring with magic were to be spared the slaughter. They could be swayed, turned to be exactly what Kerry wanted.
“You mean what I want,” the Ancient said, her feminine voice smooth and commanding.
Kerry bowed her head to the voice that filled her mind. “Of course. What the Ancients want.”
“The Druids have run amok for too long. You’ve forgotten who you are at your core. The magic of our kind is fading. Rapidly. If things continue, Druids will cease to exist, leaving the realm in the hands of other magical beings.”
Kerry’s lips pulled back in a sneer. “The Fae and Dragon Kings.”
“The Fae are weak. The Dragon Kings’ focus is split. Your concern should be for Death and her Reapers.”
Reapers, who were Fae, but Kerry didn’t argue the point. “Then let me proceed with your plan now. I’ll dethrone Rhona and remove Balladyn once and for all.”
“Not yet,” the voice replied. “Other things are happening.”
Kerry didn’t like being left out. “Like what? Shouldn’t the focus be on ensuring the Fae are never welcomed on Skye again?”
“I will determine what’s important!” the Ancients stated curtly.
Kerry shut her eyes, cowering at the anger directed at her. “I only want to serve. I’m eager to see things through.”
“You’re eager for power and to dole out retribution.” The Ancients paused. “The time is coming.”
“And the list of those who have been chosen to die? When can I send the mist back out?”
“Soon.”
Scott stood with Elodie in the kitchen of her cottage. His best friend, Filip, was off to the side. The three of them had been silent as DI Theo Frasier laid out the facts about the newest murder—and the suspect.
“You’re wrong,” Elodie finally said.
Frasier, for his part, didn’t look pleased to be there. “I follow the evidence, Elodie. My feelings about anyone can no’ matter.”
“That’s shite,” Filip said with a snort as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Scott glanced at Filip, meeting his pale gray eyes. Then he returned his attention to Frasier. First, George had announced that Elias was the murderer. Now, Frasier was saying the same, only about a new body that had been found at the rental where Elias stayed.
Frasier rubbed his forehead and shifted his feet. “Look, Elodie, you said yourself that you have no’ seen your brother in years. Nor have you spoken to him. You doona know what he’s been up to.”
“I know he isn’t a killer,” she stated flatly.
Scott could feel Elodie shaking with anger beside him. He put his arm around her and spoke to Frasier. “Something isna right. Surely, you see that. You said it appeared the man hadna been slain at Elias’s. Why would Elias kill someone somewhere and bring the body back to his place to be found?”
Frasier shrugged. “People do strange things.”
“Not my brother,” Elodie replied.
“Regardless, I need to talk to him.”
“You mean arrest him.”
Frasier put one hand in the pocket of his pants. “I have questions I need answered.”
“About this murder? Or the ones George has accused him of?” Filip asked.
Scott couldn’t remember the last time he had been this confused. He had been a part of the Druid Others in Edinburgh led by George for years. Filip’s brother, Kevin, who had been Scott’s closest friend, had been one of the Druids murdered. Upon his death, Scott and Filip bonded, leaning on each other in their grief, and Filip became the brother Scott never had.
They had trusted George completely—had no reason not to. Then George sent them to locate Elodie and convince her to join their organization—a group, and ones like it, that Rhona and Balladyn were actively trying to disband.
Their origins came from the original Others that were made up of a mie and a drough from this realm, a Light and a Dark Fae, and a mie and a drough from another realm, a place humans themselves were descended from. The Others had formed to take over Earth, and the only way to do that was to get rid of the Dragon Kings. They’d nearly succeeded, too, but the Dragon Kings were too formidable to be conquered in such a way.
The original Others had disbanded, and most of the members had been killed. A Light Fae escaped and went to his people to begin the Fae Others, which the Reapers had recently stamped out. The Druids from Earth had then quickly spread the information about what a group of Druids combining their magic could do. It wasn’t long before clusters of Druid Others began popping up around the globe.
Scott had once thought any group of Others was simply protecting itself from harm that could come to its members. It made sense when so many Druids were being murdered. Then he’d come to the Isle of Skye and learned the brutal truth about his organization. The Others, no matter if they were Fae or Druids, sought to assume power any way they could.
Filip made the decision to remain on Skye, where he had been born, and Scott chose to join him. It wasn’t just Skye that had stolen Scott’s heart, Elodie had, as well. George took their defections personally. Oh, she said she understood, but Scott didn’t believe her. He still wasn’t sure if George naming Elias as the Druid murderer was because of his and Filip’s decision or not. But ever since George had come to Skye, things had continued to pile up against Elias.
The latest was one that left everyone reeling.
As Scott waited for Frasier to answer Filip’s question, his gaze moved to Elodie. The MacLean family had suffered so much. Then just as things were about to sort themselves out, this happened.
“I’m still looking into George’s allegation against Elias,” Frasier replied. He held up a hand when Elodie went to speak. “You have to admit that your brother has secrets.”
“We all do,” Scott pointed out.
Frasier’s lips twisted ruefully. “Be that as it may, it looks bad that we can no’ find him. And this after I asked him to come to the station so I could ask about George’s accusations.”
Elodie threw up her hands and sighed loudly. “They’re just that. Accusations. She has no evidence that he did anything to anyone here. Elias wasn’t even on Skye when the Druids were murdered.”
“But they stopped when he arrived,” Frasier pointed out.
Filip dropped his arms. “They began when Scott and I came. Why are you no’ looking into us?”
“Who says I’m no’?” Frasier ran a hand down his face. “Please, if you see Elias, send him my way. It’ll go much better for him if he doesn’t run.” He paused and sighed. Then, with a shake of his head, he turned on his heel and walked out.
No one moved until Frasier was gone. Then, Elodie covered her face with her hands. Scott turned her, pulling her against him as he met Filip’s gaze.
